


Cinderella's best friend

by DarkGothicLolita



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:42:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23670268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkGothicLolita/pseuds/DarkGothicLolita
Summary: Cinderella got the Prince, but what about her best friend? Will she ever find her Prince?
Relationships: Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Juvia Lockser & Gajeel Redfox, Juvia Lockser/Gajeel Redfox, Lucy Heartfilia & Juvia Lockser, Natsu Dragneel & Lucy Heartfilia, Rogue Cheney/Levy McGarden
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!
> 
> So many people may already know me from fanfiction, but I am finally on A03 to put up my stories as well! Think of this as the site where I only put up my completed stories. So yes, for now I will only be posting work that I've already finished and posted up on fanfiction. I go by the same name for those who have never seen my stuff on there!
> 
> Me, own Fairy Tail? Never.

Lucy stared out to the whole crowd that was now cheering for her. She smiled as she was wearing the most beautiful white dress ever tailored for her and her hair up in ringlets like how her mother’s was. She gave a sad smile before masking it. She wished her mother was still alive to see her getting married. Married to the PRINCE in fact! She even wished her father was still alive too, even if he did make the mistake of marrying the witch of a second wife.

She looked at the man that she had hooked her arm with and she grinned at him and he grinned back. The Prince had managed to find her from her own dark place and he didn’t even care that she was a slave in her own household. He cupped her face as she blushed and he too blushed. “I love you so much.” Lucy let some tears fall down her face.  
“I love you too, Natsu.”

They both shared another kiss and the whole crowd of people went crazy as they cheered them all on and clapped. When they parted, Lucy rested her head on Natsu’s shoulder while looking out to the front row. She then held back a frown when she saw that the most important person who wasn’t her mum or dad wasn’t there. She almost paled when she thought of her best friend. She would have to visit her very soon.

“I hope you’re okay, Juvia-chan.”

>Line Break<

A young blue haired woman was at the market walking around, trying to get her mother’s shopping done. The tears in her eyes were evident as she weaved in and out of people. She wiped away her tears with a dirty hand and scraped any free hair that was no longer in the bun that was tied to her hair. She was lucky that everyone was at the wedding and not that many people were at the market. A wedding that she should have been at, but now she was stuck at the market.

“Can Juvia please have the finest lamb chops please?” The butcher nodded his head at her while giving her a piteous look. He always gave her discounts on the meat that she bought from him because he knew of her rough life at home. Her own blood mother treated her like shit all because her dad was now dead. She smiled as soon as he handed it all to her and headed out of the shop to buy some eggs.

As she started walking down the road, she saw a man her age with dark hair tending to his horses. A little blush rose up on her face when she saw him and she cursed to herself. She knew that she had to get over him because he was always in love with Lucy, but he never noticed her. “Juvia promises that she will not be Gray’s second best.” She thought that she could walk past him without him noticing her, but he saw her and called her over.

“Juvia! Hey, why weren’t you at the wedding? Lucy was really looking forward to seein’ ya you know!” Juvia just shook her head while raising the basket of food to show him that she was really busy. He frowned before leaving his horse and walking over to her. “So you missed your best friend’s wedding just because you had to do some shopping? That’s a bit low isn’t it?”

Juvia almost gasped in shock at his harsh words but she didn’t. Had he only paid that much attention to Lucy that he didn’t know that she too was going through the same thing? She quickly dried any tears before he could see them fall. “Juvia is sorry Gray. Juvia’s mother won’t let her go and now that Lucy has left home, Juvia has to work for Lucy’s family because they live next door. Juvia is sorry that she can’t stay and talk.”

She watched as Gray’s face suddenly showed concern for her. “Wait, you’re mistreated too? Like Lucy?” Juvia nodded her head before smiling. 

“But it’s fine. Juvia can manage. Bye! Oh, tell Ultear, Lyon, Meredy and Gray’s mother Juvia said hi!” Before Gray could say another word, she walked off. She didn’t need his pity. She knew that Lucy had asked for him to look after her when she got married. Juvia knew that Lucy was indirectly trying to set them up together, but Juvia didn’t want that. No, she didn’t need that. If she was going to die alone, then so be it. She was NEVER going to be anyone’s second choice.

She turned onto another street where the store that sold eggs was. As she rounded the corner, she crashed into someone and fell to the floor. “Watch where you’re fucking going!” She was about to apologise to the person with the gruff when she looked up to see a man with piercing red eyes, studs practically everywhere on his face, his jet black hair was probably longer than her blue hair and he was wearing a black suit. Juvia couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in it, even if he did look like a delinquent.

Juvia blushed at the thought before looking down at the ground where she sat. “Juvia is sorry.” Just as she was going to pick herself up from the floor, he placed his hand in her face so that she could take it. She looked up into his red eyes and he just grunted at her. Juvia took his hand and couldn’t help but notice that it was so big and manly. He hauled her up so easily that she couldn’t believe she was that light. That or he lifts weights heavier than her.

“So can you tell me where the fuck I am? I was only going for a walk and I end up in some market.” Juvia couldn’t help but frown at him. 

“Please stop with that foul language, it’s disgusting.” It was his turn to frown before he smirked and came closer to her face. They were inches away from each other and Juvia couldn’t but blush from how close they both were to one another. 

“Oh? And what the fuck are you going to do about it, Juvia-chan?”

Juvia flinched at the word ‘fuck’ and she scoffed at herself. She needed to stop her habit of speaking in third person because it gives her name away to every stranger she meets. “Juvia will hit you.” Without any other warning, she slapped him across the face and they both stared at each other. One in anger and one in amusement. The taller one of the two straightened up, still smirking at her while rubbing his cheek. Juvia suddenly felt bad. “Juvia is sorry stranger! She wasn’t really meant to slap you! Ugh, how rude of Juvia! Is there anything Juvia can do to make up for it?” 

She watched him stroking his chin before he gave her a very animalistic grin and she gulped in slight fear. “The name’s Gajeel for one thing, not stranger. And yes, there is something you can do for me. But don’t worry, I’ll find you when you’re not...butchering sweet little lambs.” She blushed heavily and he laughed before heading the way he came. Although there were practically no Juvias around the place, many people only knew her second name.

“If you’re going to look for Juvia, ask for the Lockser house!” She saw him put his hand up in acknowledgement as one hand was in his pocket and he kept on walking away. Then she stopped. Why on Earth would she even want him to come and look for her?! Juvia sighed, not wanting to forget the eggs and hurry home.

>Line Break<

Lucy lay in her new husband’s arms with a smile on her face. She was known as ‘Cinderella’ before, but those days were now gone. She was now called by her birth name, Lucy. Natsu stroked her hair and Lucy sighed in content. “I love you so much Natsu.” He chuckled and it made Lucy feel warm inside. She then couldn’t help but think of her friend. “Juvia didn’t come today.”

Natsu also frowned. He hadn’t seen her either. “Maybe she couldn’t get a carriage here? But we sent her one specifically...” Lucy sighed and nodded. 

“Yeah, I saw her mum and Wendy, but I didn’t see her. It’s obvious as to what has happened here.” Lucy was so angry. First her stepmother and sisters were treating her like crap, then her best friend, her next door neighbour was also getting the same treatment from her BLOOD mother. Lucy hugged Natsu tighter.

“I’ll go and see her tomorrow.” Natsu nodded.

~x~

“Gajeel, you know what this means right?” Gajeel grunted as he looked at his younger twin brother. He knew what it meant and he was going to be bugged about it for all eternity, or at least until his dad died. “Yes Rogue, I more than know what it means. Our stupid cousin just HAD to get married, and now dad is going to want the same from me. I already know who he’s going to tell me to marry anyway. Bookworm, just because she’s a Lady. I just don’t see her that way, she’s not my type. And she’s no fun.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, it’s just that they weren’t going to really get along as husband and wife. She was a shrimp and he was tall. He was into girls with killer figures and she had a body of a 12 year old. Rogue shrugged his shoulders as he threw a stone down out of the balcony. “I don’t mind Levy, I think she’s cool.” Gajeel snorted.

“Why don’t you marry her then?” He saw his brother smirk. 

“It’s not a bad idea actually. But you’re next in line to be King, so I guess it’s more important if you get married and produce an heir and all that kinda stuff. I’ll just be getting the title of Prince Rogue, not needing to do any work and I’ll have a cute wife. Life’s good when you’re the younger twin.”

Gajeel mimicked him. “Life’s good when you’re the younger twin, blah blah blah.” Rogue glared at him and Gajeel glared right back. “I’m going for a fucking walk, on the other side of town.” his brother shrugged at him. 

“Then I’m going to bed. Bye.” Raios walked off and Gajeel climbed down the balcony to his cousin’s Palace and made his way through the bushes, nodding his head at the guards.

He didn’t know where the hell he was going to go at this time of the night, until he had a thought. “Yeah, might as well find Juvia then.”

>Line Break<

SLAP

Juvia managed to ignore the pain that went soaring right through her left cheek, and her right cheek was slashed from the sharp nails of her loving mother. She had been hit for so many years that she no longer even felt the pain. Her body had grown a tolerance towards it just immediately went numb. “You worthless piece of SHIT! The lamb chops are so fucking shit and you DARE bring them home to MY HOUSE?! You’re so worthless, I wonder why I even keep you around here! Why can’t you make something out of yourself, like your older brother Jellal has done, or why can’t you be perfect like your younger sister? No, you had to be yourself, someone so fucking hopeless and a waste of space on this Earth! You know what, get out of my sight!”

Before Juvia could even walk away, her mother kicked her back and her she fell over, her face slamming into the door handle. “DON’T YOU DARE GET BLOOD ALL OVER MY FLOOR! I swear to KAMI that if I could exchange souls, I would get rid of yours to have your father back!” Juvia merely picked herself up from the floor and walked down the cellar where her room was next door, with no heating and hardly a good bed. She heard light footsteps tottering down from outside her room and she quickly wiped up her tears and tried to stop the bleeding as much as possible.

“Juvia-nee? Did mum hurt you again?” The blood had been wiped from her face, the tears had vanished and Juvia smiled while hugging her sister. 

“No Wendy-chan, mother didn’t hurt Juvia. Juvia was being clumsy again and fell to the floor!” Juvia didn’t know why she was lying to her sister when she was now 13 years old and she now knew what was going on around the house. Wendy handed her sister a plaster for her face and hugged Juvia tightly. Juvia smiled while tears welled up in her eyes.

There was a knock at the front door and Juvia could hear her mum talking to someone. Her voice was so loud that they could both hear it. “Juvia? Sorry, there’s no Juvia around here. I only have a son and a daughter called wendy, no Juvia. Wrong house.” She could hear the door slam and her mother’s angry footsteps coming down the stairs. She panicked and hid Wendy in a corner where her mum won’t see her. If Wendy was down here talking to her, their mum would go mad tonight. Not at Wendy, but at her. 

“JUVIA! SO you’re a slut now huh? Having men calling for you. I knew it. You’re a prostitute and now you’re probably hoarding every single STD in your body. You’re such a failure.”

Juvia could feel the hot tears welling up in her eyes and her mother just walked out, muttering things of how Juvia was most probably pregnant and that she was the worst person on Earth. 

“Wendy should go now in case mother finds Wendy here.” Wendy’s eyes were filled with tears and Juvia smiled at her, rubbing her hair. Wendy quickly ran out and Juvia shut her wooden door and burst into tears. How could a mother say such words? Was it really her fault that her father was now dead? Did she really hate her that much?

She dried her tears and made her way to the disgusting shower that only poured out ice cold water. She was used to it anyway so it never mattered about how cold it was, just as long as she was clean. She washed the grease out of her hair, the dirt off of her body before finding a fresh dress to put on, not like it was brand new anyway. Lucy’s step mother had asked for her to help her tonight. She walked out of her room and when she was walking up the stairs, she made sure that her mum wasn’t there to see her before running out of the door.

Just as she was about to walk out of her compound, somebody grabbed her. She turned her head to find Gray staring at her. “Gray-san? What are you doing?” He shrugged before stuffing his hands in his pockets. 

“I saw some guy come by here, he was looking for you. I just wanted to know what he wanted.” Juvia sighed and rubbed at her temples. 

“Juvia doesn’t know because Juvia’s mother told him that Juvia doesn’t exist, that he had the wrong house.” Gray’s face hardened and Juvia brushed past him. 

“Hey wait! I was wondering if one day...when you’re free...we could go on a date?” Juvia paused and looked at him. He wasn’t fidgeting, he wasn’t blushing. He just stood there as though it was a duty, nothing more and nothing less. Juvia smiled at him.

“Juvia is sorry Gray-san, but Juvia can’t.” He stood there flummoxed as she hurried to Lucy’s old house where her tyrant stepmother and sisters lived. She knocked on the door and a disgusted face opened the door. Juvia never knew the names of Lucy’s stepsisters, but she never cared. 

“Ugh, MUM! The whore is here!” Juvia made sure that the words they said wouldn’t hurt her. She wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction and cry in front of them. Her father had raised her better than that.

The woman of the house then came to the door, sending her daughter away and then glaring at Juvia. “Ugh, the slut. Anyway, make yourself useful by cleaning out cellar.” Juvia nodded her head, bowing to the woman before taking her leave. She could see the look of disgust on the woman’s face. She walked down the stairs that was designed just like hers. Her mother had already discussed what was going on with her neighbour. That or they were eavesdropping when Gajeel came to look for her.

She started dusting, cleaning and mopping the place up to the woman’s standards. She opened up a window and just as she did, red eyes stared back at her. “AHHHH!” She quickly placed her hand over her own mouth when she saw a smirk that had been implanted in her mind all day. “Gajeel,” she hissed. She was so angry right now. She looked behind her and was grateful that the cellar door was closed while she cleaned it out.

“What the hell is Gajeel doing staring at Juvia from a hidden window?!” He laughed while jumping through and staring at the place. Then he looked down at her. “I was looking for you. I went to your house and the woman there told me that there was no such person as Juvia. It made me wonder if I had been talking to a ghost. That was until I saw you leaving your house to come next door, I came back here.” Juvia stared at him with her mouth wide open. 

“Juvia is very much alive but Juvia and her mother....don’t get along.” He raised a studded eyebrow up at her but didn’t ask any questions which she was grateful for. Instead, he went on talking which made her flinch. 

“So she lied and said that her own daughter doesn’t exist. Yup, an ongoing feud I can sense from here.” She was about to defend her mum, but why should she when the woman didn’t love her?

“So what is Gajeel doing here anyway?” He jumped back away from her when she swept around his feet. He found a good enough chair to sit on, even if it was ricketing about and making a creak noise as though it might fall over soon enough. 

“I’m here to tell you what you’re going to do for me.” He watched her in amusement as she glared at him and whacked his legs.  
“Gajeel can’t order Juvia around.”

“Actually, I think I very much can.”

He laughed, not caring that the owners of the house might hear him. Juvia tried to get him to be quiet. “Shut up Gajeel! They’ll kill Juvia if they find Gajeel here, especially after what Juvia’s mother is spreading around now!” Gajeel gave her a look and Juvia just turned her back on him. “What does Gajeel want from Juvia then?” 

He stood up and walked behind her, putting his hands on her waist. A blush rose up on her cheeks as she tried to pull away from his grip. He held on tighter, his chin on her shoulders. “I need you, to become my wife.” Juvia stilled. For a moment, she even felt quite proud to be chosen by quite a really good looking guy to be his wife. Out of all the girls that were around this whole city, he chose her.

Then she came back down to reality. “Wait wait wait, why does Gajeel think that Juvia will marry him?” She spun out of his arms and he looked at her questioningly. “Gajeel is so rude and so untamed that Juvia wants nothing to do with him, so Gajeel can take his marriage proposal elsewhere. Besides, we hardly know one another, we can’t just automatically fall in love.”

She thought that that would have made him give up, but he simply put his hand on his chin, his tanned fingers stroking it. She couldn’t help but stare at him, at his height, at his hair, the studs on him and his sharp calculating red eyes. “So what you’re trying to say is that we should get to know each other first and by doing that you want to spend time with me! Yeah I get it! We should DATE first!”

Juvia’s jaw dropped to the ground as she stared at him. “H-How did Gajeel get to that conclusion?” Honestly, he must have been smoking something real special here! He leaned down to her face again, his lips were hovering dangerously near hers and he smirked when he saw another blush light up on her face. 

“I can see it in your eyes.” They both stared at one another, their eyes never leaving one another. Juvia honestly thought that he was going to be an idiot, like he always seemed to be and dare to kiss her, but he didn’t.

Instead, he leaned back and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand that Juvia couldn’t help but sigh at the contact. He removed his hand and tapped the plaster that was over her nose. It made her flinch and his eyes were questioning her on how it happened. She just looked away from him and he made his way back over to the window. 

“I guess I’ll be going. Have a nice night now and I’ll see ya tomorrow.” He jumped out, almost as though he was never there. His presence was gone and Juvia couldn’t help but feel so empty.

She shut the window, set the chair up and the door swung open as Lucy’s step mother stood there. She inspected the whole room, every place, running her finger on the surfaces to make sure that no bit of dust lingered there.

“You’ve done well, better than Lucy. You’re free to go.” Juvia bowed once more and the woman snorted before leaving her alone in the room. Juvia turned back and saw red eyes still looking at her once more before they were gone again. Juvia smiled a little bit before walking out and back to her house.

She slipped into the house and saw that Wendy and her mother had gone to bed. She sighed in happiness as she walked down to her own cellar where her room was next door. She changed into her nightwear before slipping onto her bed where she froze almost every night. She thought about Gajeel. Was he her Natsu? No, he was Gajeel and that was that. She wondered what would happen to Wendy, maybe she should take her with her.

She rolled over onto her side, thinking about Gajeel and smiled before closing her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinderella got the Prince, but what about her best friend? Will she ever find her prince?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!
> 
> I've been stupid lazy to post this. I forgot that I was supposed to be editing it, even though the story has already been finished lol. Like mentioned before, I already post on Fanfiction, but I thought it was time to join you guys on here! Also, big thank you to you cuties who have left me kudos! I appreciate you guys so much!
> 
> Me, own Fairy Tail? Couldn't be me.

Even though she had always been the first to wake up, after so many years, she had never gotten used to waking up so early, meaning that she clearly wasn’t a morning person even till this day. She’s always been forced to wake up early and start making breakfast, cleaning the rest of the house and whatever. She was tired every single day from going to bed late, waking up early and the whole day’s work. She just wanted to lie in at least once! She was making breakfast for Wendy and her mother when she thought about Lucy.

She smiled to herself when she thought of her friend. She was happy that she had finally gotten her wish of being able to leave her stepmother’s house. She was glad that at least one of them had been able to do so. She heard someone running down the stairs and she turned around with a plate of breakfast for her younger sister. The girl beamed at her, already squeaky and clean.

“Good morning Juvia-nee!” She hugged her sister and Juvia hugged her back before setting her breakfast on the table. “Good morning Wendy-chan. So what has mother got lined up for Wendy-chan today then?” Wendy sighed and filled her mouth with food before swallowing it.

“I have to go to my ballet lesson today. At least I’ll see Chelia today!” Juvia nodded her head while washing up the pots and pans.

“Juvia-nee? Why does mother treat you that way?” Juvia sighed, knowing full well that one day she was going to ask the question soon enough. She looked at the clock and saw that her mother would only be waking up in about 2 hours time. She turned around, setting her own plate on the table to sit with her sister.

“Mother blames Juvia for the death of Papa.” Wendy’s eyebrows knitted together. Their father had died when she was only six, which was seven years ago. She had never been told of why or how he had died. Juvia sighed again. “That winter, it was a very harsh winter and mother had specifically told Juvia not to go outside. Juvia didn’t listen and Juvia got lost. Father was doing his best to look for Juvia, but Juvia found her way home and came back without father. Juvia didn’t know that father was still out there, looking for Juvia when Juvia already came home.

“Mother beat Juvia that night for going out when she was told not to. She sent Juvia to the naughty room which is now Juvia’s bedroom. When father finally came back, he was terribly ill. Father died of pneumonia. All because of Juvia.” Tears spilled out of her eyes and Wendy rubbed her sister’s arms in the form of comfort.

“That is the worst excuse ever! Mother shouldn’t treat you like that! Mother is seriously wrong in that aspect!” Juvia smiled a little bit before eating the rest of her food.

“It’s fine Wendy-chan. Anyway, does Wendy-chan need Juvia to tidy her room?” Wendy frowned and shook her head.

“No, no. It’s fine. My room is tidy, I can clean my room by myself.” There was a knock at the door and Wendy’s face lit up. “They’re early!”

Wendy ran up to the door and when she opened it, Meredy stood there with Chelia. Ultear nodded her head. “I’ve come to take you now, Wendy. Ready to go?” Wendy nodded her head and Juvia came out to Ultear. The young woman glanced at Juvia almost accusingly, but was still polite.

“Hey Juvia, saw you didn’t go to the wedding yesterday.”

Juvia smiled softly and nodded her head gently. What else could she say? That was stuck here and forced not to go?

“Juvia was busy.”

Ultear nodded slowly, almost like she didn’t believe it, and Wendy came out with her stuff.

“Bye Juvia-nee, I’ll see you later!” Juvia waved to the three girls and to Ultear. She sighed before she caught sight of something white and walked towards it.

“How is Carla this morning?” The cat mewed softly and Juvia set down some fish and water for her to eat and drink while she stroked it. She suddenly heard some movement upstairs and sighed at the cat.

“Mother is awake two hours early.” It was almost as though Carla was giving her a piteous look and she smiled at her. “It’s fine. Juvia just needs to make her breakfast, run some errands and stay out of mother’s way.” She started making more food for the woman upstairs.

Finally when she had finished, there was another knock at the door. She was about to walk out and answer it when she heard her mother at the door. “Oh, Princess! What can I do for you this morning?!” Juvia smiled and waited for her name to be called. “Juvia! Come out here and present yourself in front of the Princess!” She came out of the kitchen and bowed down.

“Good morning Princess Lucy. Is there anything Juvia can get for you?” Lucy smiled and shook her head.

“No it’s fine, I just want to talk to you. Can we go to your room please?” Juvia nodded and just as she was about to take her down to the cellar, her mum hissed.

“You don’t take the Princess to that filthy room! Take her to your room.” Juvia knew what she meant. She wanted her to take her to her old room, a room she hadn’t stepped foot in in over seven years.

Juvia nodded as her mother faked a smile to her. Juvia walked upstairs and Lucy followed her into her room. Lucy didn’t waste any time as she quickly shut the door behind her.

“I saw that you didn’t come to the wedding yesterday...I’m going to guess that the carriage that Natsu and I had sent for you only picked up your mother and Wendy and then your mother told you you couldn’t come.” Juvia burst into tears as she nodded and Lucy hugged her. “Oh Juvia! I’m sure that one day you’ll get out of here!”

Juvia sighed as she wiped her tears. “But Lucy-chan, Juvia is 21! Juvia wants to leave, but her mother won’t let her, yet her mother hates her! Juvia doesn’t understand why she’s doing this!” Lucy sighed before thinking of something.

“How about you work for me then? Obviously you won’t be working, but you’ll have the privilege of living in the palace with me. But Natsu and I are going on our honeymoon later on today, so you won’t live with us for another while.”

Juvia’s eyes widened at the news and started trying to push Lucy out of the room.

“Then what is Lucy-chan doing here?! Lucy-chan should be packing her things and going! Juvia will be fine, thank you.” They both started walking out of the room and down the stairs to where they saw Juvia’s mother eating her breakfast. She stood up and bowed to Lucy.

“My highness, I hope that the stay here was fine. I’m sorry we didn’t offer you anything.” Lucy gave her a soft smile and shrugged her shoulders.

“That’s fine Mrs Lockser. After all, I already ate at home.” There was a glint in her eyes and her tone had turned. Juvia’s mother almost wilted but stood strong.

“Okay then Princess.”

Juvia saw her friend off. “I know the stay was brief, but as I said, I have my honeymoon and also, Natsu’s cousins are leaving. One of them is going to be the King to our neighbouring country. Same age as Natsu and if you see the arguments they have, gosh it’s like warriors fighting!” Juvia laughed as they both hugged one another. “Bye Ju-chan!”

“Bye Lu-chan!”

Juvia watched as her friend made her way to the carriage and watched it go down the road. Her mother coughed behind her. Juvia turned around and bowed to her mother. “Good morning ma’am. Any errands for Juvia today?” The woman glared at her daughter and nodded.

“Yes, I need you to do the washing, I have a cocktail party tonight.” Juvia nodded and made her way up the stairs again to bring down her dirty washing. She started pouring water into a huge bucket and added in some soap. She sighed while soaking all of the clothes.

As she held the huge bucket in her arms, there was another knock at the door as she walked down the stairs. Her mother was at the door once more, but not without giving Juvia a glare filled with disgust. The door swung open and Gajeel stood there in a full black suit, although his tie was hanging loosely around his neck and his shirt was untucked. All in all, he looked like a bad boy hottie.

“Hey, is Juvia here, I’ve come to take her out.” Juvia saw her mother cross her arms.

“Oh and I’m guessing that you’re the man that is calling for her this week then? Tell me, how much does she charge? Maybe not a lot because she’s hardly worth anything.” She gave Juvia a bitter laugh and Gajeel’s eyebrows were knotted together and his face fell into a frown.

“What?”

The older woman’s face lit up in glee as she ushered Gajeel into the house and pulled Juvia towards her, making her almost drop the bucket of clothes in the process had it not been that she had such a good grip on it. Clearly her mother didn’t recognize him from last night.

“Oh haven’t you heard? My daughter is a slut. A whore, a prostitute, a slag and she will spread her legs for anyone who pays her. I guess you’re the unfortunate man this time around.” Juvia’s face fell as the tears started streaming down her face. She turned away from the woman she called mother and walked down the hallway to wash the clothes.

She dumped the bucket on the floor and crumpled down to her knees where she started sobbing loudly. She didn’t even hear when the door opened and someone stood behind her.

“Sheesh, what a woman. I don’t know why she would lie about her own daughter like that. Hey, Juvia? Get the fuck up and come here!” That made her look up through her tears to see Gajeel staring down at her. He had his hand out for her yet again and when she grabbed it, he hauled her up and she fell into his chest. He grinned down at her as she stared up at him in surprise.

Those blood red eyes of his just stared down into her eyes and as rough as he was, he was still being very gentle. But...where had she seen this face from? Why was there some sort of nagging in the back of her head that she knew this man in front of her? Gajeel started talking as she was taken out of her thoughts.

“You just can’t get enough of my touch can you?” Surprisingly, he stayed hugging her and she didn’t even mind, though she did scoff at him.

“Please, Juvia would never enjoy Gajeel’s touches.” He smelt good, like really good that it made her self conscious about herself and she was the girl here! He barked out a laugh.

“Then why aren’t you letting go of me then?” Juvia blushed, feeling caught out.

“Because Juvia likes the way Gajeel smells.” He stopped as he didn’t know how to reply to that. Juvia always kept him on his toes, even if this was only the second day of them both meeting.

“You really speak your mind don’t ya?” Juvia shrugged before finally letting go of him and glaring at him. He then used his thumb and index finger to smooth out her eyebrows.

“What, you want wrinkles in your old age? Don’t frown at me.” Juvia turned her back on him as he laughed once more. She bent down to start scrubbing at the washing and Gajeel finally stood there in silence. After about ten minutes of watching her, he finally groaned.

“Fuck sake, are you going to do this all day? I’m not a patient guy you know!” Juvia almost jumped right out of her skin, forgetting that he was there.

“Gajeel! Don’t scare Juvia like that again!” It was the way she said his name all breathy that made him groan again, but this time out of pleasure. He swore that this girl had magical powers over him. He smirked at her before grabbing her up gently.

“I’ve just decided something while I was watching you. You can live with me!” Juvia gaped at him as her jaw dropped. She tried to find the right words but no sound came out of her mouth. It took her a while before she finally found her voice.

“What, like a maid?”

Gajeel actually looked appalled at the question. His eyebrows almost became one with his hairline as he regarded the girl in front of him. The way she was looking at him with those innocent azure eyes. She was so beautiful, despite the fact that she had tattered clothes and her hair was everywhere. He felt himself gulp when her cat-like eyes were swimming with confusion. Why did she look familiar?

“NO, not as a maid! It’s obvious that you ain’t loved here so why don’t you just come with me and everything will be okay? But I gotta tell ya, I don’t live here in Fiore.”

Juvia couldn’t believe it. Was this really her ticket out of this hell hole? But what about Wendy? What if she was mistreated here too when she left? Maybe she won’t be but she couldn’t take the risk. But if she wasn’t going to be his maid, what was she going to do with him?

“B-but, Juvia can’t-”

He glared at her, making her voice trail off.

“And why the fuck not?”

Juvia was taken aback from his aggressive question. “Juvia doesn’t want Wendy-chan to get hurt in place of Juvia...”

His face softened a little bit, clearly in understanding.

“She can come with, and if she can’t, then get someone to look after her or something.”

Juvia thought about Gray’s sister, Ultear. She weighed the odds out and Ultear had always been a good friend of hers.

“Maybe Juvia can find someone...”

That was all Gajeel needed to hear before he grabbed up her wet hands, making her leave the clothes there. Juvia squeaked in surprise, looking back at the huge barrel of clothes.

“Wait Gajeel, Juvia wasn’t done with the washing!”

He laughed his strange laugh. “Oh, but you are now! I can’t have my future wife washing clothes for someone else can I?” Juvia blushed and tried to argue that she won’t be marrying him. Did he really still think that that was going to happen? That he could simply take her from her home and marry her, despite not knowing anything about each other?! This guy was crazy, but it didn’t stop her heart from beating fast at the fact that someone wanted her.

“Ohhhh womaaaan~” Juvia almost face palmed at how he had called her mother. To say her mother was happy with the way he called her would have been a lie.

“Mrs Lockser would have been nice, you delinquent, not ‘woman’. What do you want?” Juvia could see her mother shifting uncomfortably under Gajeel’s smirking gaze. Those red eyes of his seemed to scare the living daylights out of anyone but Juvia herself.

“I’ve come to take your daughter. Obviously you don’t love her and I’m pretty sure that even though I don’t either, I can treat her WAY better than you ever will and I can learn to love her. I’m taking her away. If you have any stuff you want to bring, get it and let’s leave. If not let’s go now.” He looked back at Juvia and she shook her head, confirming that she had nothing while her mother laughed.

“Wait, you think that you can love this wench? That’s rich! And just who are you?” His blood red eyes fell upon her again and she shivered involuntarily, though she stood her ground making sure that she didn’t seem weak under his gaze, but he had already seen it and he grinned devilishly.

“I’m Gajeel Redfox, and don’t you forget that you fucker.” Juvia had never seen her mother look so angry and Gajeel didn’t even care as he grabbed her hand again. “You sure there’s nothing you want from this place?” She thought about it before leading him down to her room to get something.

“There’s just one thing of Juvia’s that means a lot to her...” She could tell that Gajeel was staring around her room.

“That she devil makes you sleep _here_? Tch, good thing I’m taking you away from this dungeon.” He was right, it did look like a dungeon. It was almost as though she was a prisoner in her own house, all her room was missing was chains to keep her locked up. “How long has this been your room?” Juvia sighed as she picked up the box and stood up straight. She couldn’t look at him in the eyes.

“Maybe seven years? Juvia’s forgotten.” His eyes widened before he growled and took the box from her with a grin.

“I’ll hold this.”

Juvia snatched it right back and glared at him. “As much as Juvia hates her mother, Gajeel will NOT be knocking her out with this box!” His jaw dropped to the ground before he grunted and headed out of her room.

“How did you know?” Juvia tutted behind him.

“Juvia could see it in your eyes.”

Her mother held the front door open with a condensing look on her face. “Don’t you ever come back here, you hear me? And if he throws you out, let me tell you this, he never will never love you anyway!” Juvia nodded her head and tried her best to keep Gajeel back from knocking the woman out.

“Just tell Wendy that Juvia will miss her.”

“Where are you going?” The three of them turned around to find that Wendy was now in front of the open door with Meredy and Chelia. Juvia sighed as she turned to look at Wendy.

“Wendy-chan...Juvia is leaving home. Juvia is sorry, maybe Wendy-chan can come with, but a friend of Juvia’s has come to take her away.” That’s if you could really call Gajeel a friend. They had barely known each other for 24 hours and here she was, leaving her house to live with him. In another country no doubt!

Wendy sighed in relief before wrapping her arms around her older sister. Juvia sniffed to hold back the tears as she squeezed her younger sister tightly.

“That’s good, maybe that way you can get away from this suffering.” Their mother gasped and Juvia more than knew that Wendy was going to get it tonight. Wendy faced Gajeel with a smile that he couldn’t help but give up the scary man facade. “Hey Mr, please look after my sister. Ever since my brother left, she’s the only one able to protect me and because she’s gone through a lot in the past seven years, she needs someone to take care of her.”

Gajeel nodded and he ruffled her hair. “You can count on it kid.” He then whispered something to her and Juvia raised her eyebrow in suspicion. She decided to ignore them and turned around to speak with Ultear.

“Can Ultear please look after Wendy-chan? Juvia doesn’t deem it safe for her to stay here alone with mother...” The young woman nodded her head and Juvia’s mother tried to butt in, but Wendy was already cheering.

“Yes! That way I can live with Meredy and live closer to Chelia! Let me pack my stuff and get Carla too!” The youngest Lockser ran up the stairs before Gajeel turned to face Mrs Lockser with a smirk on his face.

“Karma is a bitch, just like you.” The woman gasped in anger and as she tried to slap his face, he held her hand. “Can’t handle the truth? You’re a horrible mother and woman. A person like you isn’t fit to live and be surrounded by the people who are supposed to love you.” Juvia could see her mother fuming in anger and she tapped Gajeel’s hand. She didn’t want them to argue right now. Gajeel shouldn’t waste his time here.

“Don’t take it too far, please.”

He looked at her in anger before he sighed and released the woman’s hand. Her mother stepped back and turned her rage to someone else. She slapped Juvia and the two younger children, Meredy and Chelia gasped.

So this is the personality this woman had been hiding? Ultear quickly moved the two girls behind her and willed for Wendy to come back downstairs. Gajeel stepped forward and placed his body in between the two of them.

The venom in the woman’s voice was so obvious this time around. “This is all your fault. Everything bad is always your fault.”

Juvia just smiled at her. This was it. This was the final straw. She now had no doubts in her mind. She wanted to go with Gajeel. She knew that she was definitely going to have a better life with him. Who knows, maybe they really could learn to love each other.

“That’s nice to know, mother.” On the inside, she was breaking down. She always had to stay strong and sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. Now, she just had an audience to bask in her humiliation.

Gajeel pulled her hand. It was almost like he could feel her distress and that was something he didn’t want her to go through. “We’re going now, and never coming back to this house.”

Juvia nodded and waved to Ultear.

“Please take good care of Wendy-chan for Juvia!” She nodded her head and a carriage was waiting outside the house.

“Get in, woman.” Juvia turned to glare at Gajeel and he just tapped her butt to make her move faster. That made Juvia blush as she sat down in silence, her mind going into overdrive about what he had just done to her, while Gajeel himself was smiling.

* * *

The carriage stopped at a little inn and Gajeel pushed Juvia out of the door. She wasn’t impressed with all this pushing at all. Is this how it was going to be? She wasn’t sure if she liked it.

“What was that for?!” He laughed as he jumped out, narrowly missing the puddle that was in front of the carriage door.

“Well, you weren’t getting out fast enough. Anyway, I need to get my stuff and my brother too, so let’s go.” He started walking and he could hear Juvia spluttering.

“Wait, Gajeel has a brother?! Great, just what Juvia needs, a second Gajeel.”

He opened the door to the fancy hotel and rolled his eyes.

“I might not act like it, but I have feelings. That’s so insulting. Besides, he’s my twin.” Juvia threw her hands up into the air in exasperation.

“That’s even worse!” Gajeel shrugged and grinned as they went into the lift up into their room.

As they were walking to the room, Juvia remembered something that she was supposed to ask him.

“Gajeel?” When she was sure she had his attention, she carried on. “What is it that Gajeel does that he can afford all this and...Gajeel isn’t from this country is he? So like, what does Gajeel do? Oh wait, Juvia already asked that question.”

Gajeel just gave her a wide animalistic grin as he opened the door to his hotel room and there were all his suitcases along with a black haired man the same age as him. He stared at the both of them in surprise before Juvia stared between the two brothers. “Wow, Gajeel really wasn’t lying when he said that he has a twin! The hair and the eyes are the same, though Gajeel’s hair seems much longer than...”

“Rogue.”

“Rogue’s hair.” Juvia then unconsciously ran her hand through Gajeel’s hair very gently and Gajeel enjoyed her touch more than he should have. Rogue watched the both of them in mild amusement. Gajeel noticed his brother’s look before moving away from Juvia’s hand. He couldn’t believe that just happened! At least Juvia looked embarrassed of what she had just done too.

“Oh, this is Juvia and she’s going to be my wife.” Juvia crossed her arms over and snorted behind Gajeel and he gave her a glare. They both didn’t seem to hear Rogue mumble to himself that he was pretty sure that they knew a Juvia who looked exactly like the one in front of him. He decided to keep quiet about the situation. Seeing Juvia glare at his brother already looked like great entertainment. It looked like they had forgotten about each other, so he was going to see how long that will last.

“What, you don’t want to be my wife? I’m the best guy you’ll ever come across and I just got you out of that devil's house." Juvia was grateful for that, but that wasn’t why she was angry. Both the twins watched as she stepped forward towards Gajeel and poked his forehead. The man hissed and glared down at her.

“Oh, Juvia is happy that she met Gajeel, but is Gajeel stupid? He hasn’t even given Juvia a ring!” Rogue snorted out in laughter and the duo turned their glare on him and he coughed to disguise his laugh and he started taking the bags out of the room, leaving his brother and his fiance in the room. Juvia then shook her hand in Gajeel’s face.

“Well? What is Gajeel waiting for then?”

He stared at her hand before grinning and kissing it gently. That surprised Juvia as she wasn’t expecting it and it made her face flare up in a huge blush. She watched as his hand slipped into his pocket and he pulled out a little box. It was a blue velvet box. Juvia couldn’t help but bite her lower lip as he took out a ring that looked like a huge blue nut.

“Hope you don’t mind, I bought a ring with blue. I bought it yesterday after I pretty much told you you were gonna be my wife. Marry me?” Juvia pulled her hand back as soon as the ring was on. She actually couldn’t believe that this was happening right now. This story of hers seemed just as ludicrous as Lucy’s! Gajeel had practically ordered her to get married to him and while she had put up a fight, she didn’t put up a good one because they were still going through with it! Before she could even tell him how much she loves it, he was speaking again.

“I also got you a dress because well, you look fucking disgusting in those clothes.” She noticed a bag on the bed and he pointed at it while she raised an eyebrow and gingerly picked it up. Then he pointed to the bathroom. “Hurry up and shower, we gotta go. Don’t worry, I left you some girly stuff in there too.” Juvia regarded him silently yet again and he rolled his eyes before mumbling. “What, can’t I buy nice stuff for my fiance?” Juvia smirked as she grabbed his cheeks and shook his head about.

“Aww, doesn’t someone care!”

He removed her hand as he growled.

“You’re so damn patronising! But weren’t you sounding happy that I was going to be marrying you, huh? ‘Oh, Juvia is sooo happy that she met Gajeel-kun!” Juvia’s face turned bright red from embarrassment and anger.

“Juvia did NOT say that!” He smirked at her.

“Something along those lines, but you so want me.”

“Not even in Gajeel’s wildest dreams.”

“Sorry if I’m a guy and I have these certain dreams about you then.” That shut Juvia up as she couldn’t believe he had just said something like that and was looking _smug_ about it! She turned her back on him before storming off into the bathroom with the dress. Gajeel chuckled.

He had won this round.

* * *

For the first ten minutes of the ride, Gajeel had been trying his very best not to stare at Juvia, and how long her legs looked in the silky blue dress she wore that was very generous to her chest. Then he realised something. _“She’s my fucking fiance, I can look at her if I want to!”_ Then he could see Juvia getting very uncomfortable under his gaze and he couldn’t help but smirk.

He leaned towards her ear, his breath tickling it so much that she was torn between moving away and laughing, or making her panties drop for him. Instead, she closed her eyes as his low rough voice spoke directly into her ear, making Rogue suspicious as to what they were talking about.

“Relax. You’re going to be my wife, I can look at you anytime I want. Besides, you clean up well. Like really well.” Juvia couldn’t hide the smile that passed over her lips, wondering how many different sides Gajeel actually had to him. He knew how to push all her buttons, he had quite a bit of a violent nature, he was sweet even if she had only seen this side maybe once, and he had the ability to turn her on even if he didn’t mean to. But she was sure he definitely meant to do so the majority of the time.

_“Is Juvia falling for him already?”_

“Do you want me to sit in between you two? Because I will if you guys don’t get that look off your faces as though you’re about to have sex.”

His twin and his twin’s fiance looked up at him, almost as though they were annoyed that he was still in the carriage with them. He sighed and Juvia removed the look of her face, wondering what the hell she was doing. She pushed Gajeel away from her gently.

“Sorry Rogue, Gajeel was just saying something to make Juvia feel better.”

Rogue snorted and Gajeel leaned over and punched his arm. He just smirked at his older twin.

“Gajeel said something nice?! Wow, you must be the only girl that has ever been able to get him to do something like that! After all, most girls fall for his ‘looks’ and the bad guy persona, but once they go on a first date, they usually run off screaming their heads. You seem to have him tamed after...a day?” Juvia laughed and pinched his cheeks yet again.

“Aww is that true Gajeel- _kun_? Gajeel must _really_ love Juvia.” The older of the three just leaned back with his arms crossed, trying his very best not to smack his brother out of this world. Juvia then let go of his cheeks before leaning back too. The carriage then came to a stop and Rogue jumped out first. Gajeel let Juvia out first and as she jumped out, she started stretching. It had been a very long journey.

Then she stared in awe at the building in front of her. A whole bunch of men started running towards the carriage to grab up Rogue’s and Gajeel’s things. Juvia still held her box close to her as her jaw dropped at the sight of the building. She had definitely seen this place before, but where? On the news?

Gajeel stood next to her, hands in his pockets. “Remember when you asked me what it is I do? Well I’m the Prince in this country and Natsu is my cousin, hence me being at the wedding. Is that a good enough answer for you?”

Juvia stared at Rogue, then long and hard at Gajeel before looking back at the palace in front of her. She couldn’t help but feel light headed all of a sudden. The Prince chose _her_ to get married to? But why? Things like this never happened to _her_ , only lucky people like Lucy!

She laughed lightly and nodded. “Yeah, that is a good enough answer.”

Then she fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

“Ugh, how did Juvia get on this bed?”

“I brought you here, isn’t it obvious? Couldn’t leave you out there.” Juvia looked up to see red eyes staring at her, amusement being evident in those crimson orbs. She scoffed as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand up. Gajeel continued to speak.

“I thought you were going to be light, but I guess I was wrong. Surprisingly, you eat well for a woman who was locked in a dungeon.” His eyes followed her as she stood up from the bed and smoothed out her dress, rolling her eyes at the same time. She knew what he wanted and that was for her to bite. She didn’t have enough energy for an argument right now.

“It wasn’t a dungeon. It was Juvia’s room.” Gajeel snorted claiming it wasn’t much different and she just sighed, not having any time for this right now. Her head was still pounding a little bit.

“So why did you faint when I told you who I really was then?” She raised an eyebrow at him as he started to lead the way down the palace hallways and she rubbed her arm, not knowing how to reply. Wasn’t it obvious? Or did he really want her to say it loud?

“Well...Juvia was just shocked-”

“More like traumatised.”

“Will Gajeel shut up and listen?! Juvia was shocked that Gajeel would have chosen someone like Juvia to get married to. After all, Juvia isn’t the best looking woman out there, she was a slave in her own house and there are most definitely many other nicer people out there, women more ladylike than Juvia.” The whole time that Juvia was talking, Gajeel was nodding his head in agreement.

“Yup, you know what, that’s all true.” 

Juvia looked down at the floor, feeling extremely hurt. Maybe Gajeel had finally come to his senses and was going to call the whole thing off. It would probably let her know that he actually does have a brain under all that hair.

“But that’s the thing. I don’t care about that in a woman because I know those kind of women would hate me and just stay with me because I’m the fucking Prince-” Juvia then put her hand over his mouth, two emotions swimming in her eyes. Gajeel stared back at her in surprise.

“As much as Juvia appreciates what Gajeel is saying, and Juvia is honoured, Juvia still doesn’t like Gajeel’s profanity. Keep it to a minimum.” She could feel him smirk against his hand and he grabbed her waist and swung her around before dipping her body down low. 

“Oh yeah? Is that a law made by the  _ Princess _ Juvia? You should know, I don’t take orders.” 

Juvia held onto his arm in slight panic, but when she did, she could feel the amount of muscles that he was packing under his suit. Her shock turned into amazement as she couldn’t help but squeeze it a little bit and that made Gajeel smirk even more. 

“Feeling my muscles?” 

She blushed when she realised what she had just done and she hit him lightly, still feeling how firm his muscles were once again. 

“Let Juvia up. Gajeel is too strong for her to fight off.” Gajeel laughed at her before lifting her back up and she pushed him away from her. Her cheeks were bright red as she tried to right her hair.

“Now take Juvia to wherever Gajeel was taking her.” She crossed her arms as she walked behind him. He couldn’t help but smile to himself and wonder about Juvia. She was acting like a bossy Princess already. But seriously, she reminded him of a friend that he had so long ago. Was that all a dream? When they rounded the corner, there was a short blue haired woman, maybe the same age as Juvia heading their way. Juvia couldn’t really tell how old she was because her body looked quite...Undeveloped. However, she couldn’t help but notice once again how  _ familiar  _ she looked. Had she been here before?

“Oh Gajeel! I thought you were going to come back like yesterday or something! Didn’t expect you to want to stay with your cousin for an extra day!” Then she saw Juvia standing behind him and her face tightened very quickly before smiling at her.

“Hey! My name’s Levy and I’m a good friend of Gajeel and Rogue! What’s your name?” With Lucy and Ultear being her only friends, Juvia had never really trusted anyone who didn’t know what she went through all her life and was quite skeptical of her. Plus, she had also seen the way that she had been eyeing Gajeel and her, almost as though she was jealous. Juvia quickly understood the situation. She hadn’t meant to come and step on anyone’s toes.

“This is Juvia Lockser and she’s my fiance.” A pained look passed through Levy’s face before she actually brightened up. 

“Wait, did you just say Lockser?! Ju-chan?!” Juvia’s head snapped up. The only people who had ever called her ‘Ju-chan’ was Lucy and sometimes, Ultear. Only her friends had called her that. She looked at Levy suspiciously, trying to remember her. 

“Erm, is Juvia supposed to know Levy-san?” It was like Levy’s face fell and even Gajeel was confused here.

“Ju-chan, you don’t remember me? You still speak with your third person and you love the rain! Your mother taught you how to sew at an early age and you used to sew your own dolls! Ju-chan!” Juvia was surprised that Levy knew so much about her and Gajeel was staring at Juvia as though to ask, ‘is this true.’

Juvia wracked her brain as though she were ready to explode. A short little blue haired girl who always used to read books was there somewhere in her memory. Levy... “Mcgarden-san?!” Levy jumped up and down and started clapping her hands. 

“Yes, yes! Ju-chan you remembered!” Juvia blushed seeing as she didn’t remember her at first. Gajeel just scratched his head in confusion. Levy elbowed him.

“What, you don’t remember her either?!” Gajeel and Juvia locked eyes with one another, clearly having no memory of each other. 

“Juvia thought this whole time that Gajeel was familiar, but she still can’t seem to place it. Wait, so Juvia used to live here?!” Okay, this was getting weird. She didn't really remember her life before her family moved away. 

Levy nodded her head in excitement before she smirked and Gajeel couldn’t help but feel scared. She was plotting something or she had blackmail material. “I still have that picture that you drew for Juvia.” Gajeel gave her a weird look. 

“What picture?” She grinned. 

“A certain picture.” Juvia and Gajeel looked at one another before shrugging.

“Anyway bookworm, I gotta go to my Dad. See you later.” Gajeel started walking and Juvia followed on. She turned around to Levy with a sad look. 

“Juvia is sorry Levy...For everything...” Juvia knew that Levy knew what she was talking about. She was sorry for forgetting her and sorry for taking Gajeel away from her, but still she managed to smile a little bit. 

“We can talk later!”

~x~

Gajeel threw open the door to the throne room and Juvia almost jumped out of her skin. “Gajeel!” Gajeel groaned at the sound of her voice. The way she said it made him agitated yet again, but to Juvia it sounded like he was annoyed with her. She huffed at him before they walked into the room where there was a black haired man and woman. They both sighed when they saw their son and they saw a different blue haired woman with him. Gajeel just grinned at them.

“Mum, Dad, good to see ya! Rogue and I got home safely! So I thought I should introduce you to the reason why I decided to come a day later than you guys. I couldn’t be outdone by Natsu, sooo I went and got myself a fiance. Meet Juvia.”

His parents look horrified that he had basically just picked up some woman off of the streets. Juvia shyly waved at them, not at all impressed with the way that Gajeel decided to introduce her. The way he made things sound was that she was like a stray dog that he had just picked up off of the streets. That was the last thing she wanted. 

“Son, you can’t just pick a random woman off of the street, no matter how beautiful she may be. What if this isn’t what she wants? I apologise for my son Juvia, it seems as if the etiquette lessons we sent him for when he was younger never quite worked.” Gajeel rolled his eyes and Juvia nudged him. 

“Be kind Gajeel.”

The Queen smiled at the gesture. At least she was polite, however she did look very familiar. “What’s your full name honey? You might do him some good!” 

“Juvia’s full name is Juvia Lockser.”

The Queen and the King shared another look before Gajeel’s mother stepped towards her with a huge smile on her face. “Juvia! Of course!” Juvia then found herself in a hug and she had never felt more loved before. Her mother hadn’t hugged her in maybe over ten years.  _ “So this is what it feels like to be in a motherly hug. But wait, why is the Queen hugging me?!” _

The King then spoke up, joining them. “How’s your father, Juvia?” Juvia pulled out of the hug before frowning at the man in front of her. 

“Erm, Juvia’s father is dead and has been for the past seven years...” She watched as his eyes widened and he looked thoughtful, as though he knew her father and that they were good friends. 

“Your father is dead? But...How?”

“He died of pneumonia. Juvia is sorry, but do you know of Juvia’s father, your highness?” He waved his hand. 

“No need for formalities, and of course I do! He was my chief advisor and my best friend! I knew that he moved to Fiore because his wife wanted to be closer to her parents but we lost contact over the time. I never knew that he passed away...Anyway, you were so young, I’m not at all surprised that you’ve forgotten about this place! What a wonderful coincidence that the two of you would find each other again!”

It was like there was something within Juvia’s memory that was triggered. She always had random flashbacks of playing with three other children her age, but because she was so young, she couldn’t remember it well enough. Now she knew that this was her childhood place! The two black haired boys and Levy were her friends back when she used to live here. There was also a red haired girl who was friends with her brother.

“Anyway, we were about to head out somewhere, we’ll see you at dinner. Honestly, it’s so good to see you again Juvia!” The Queen smiled as she looped arms with her husband and Gajeel waved them off.

Gajeel led Juvia out as she was still deep in her memories. There was a boy...One who was never nice to her but he was always the first to defend her if Jellal wasn’t there. She gasped in shock when she realised  _ exactly  _ who that little boy had grown up to be. 

“No way! Metal head?!” 

Without even turning around to her or hesitating, Gajeel immediately replied with, “Shut your fucking trap water girl.” Juvia gasped and Gajeel stopped to look at her in surprise. They both stared at each other wondering how they knew each other’s childhood nicknames. It finally sunk in and Gajeel smirked at the woman next to him, arms crossed over his chest. Juvia’s eyes quickly glanced at his biceps before looking up at him again. His smirk widened. He had seen her check out his arms.

“Well whaddya know?  _ You’re  _ water girl.” Juvia blushed heavily in partial anger. 

“Juvia’s not surprised that metal head turned out this way anyway. Gajeel was always rude when he was younger.” 

He grinned at her wickedly before slinging an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close to him.

“I’ll take that as a compliment! You have shitty memory, for a girl.”

Juvia grabbed ahold of Gajeel’s hand and took it off of her before the same arm wound its way around her waist. She knew that she should have gotten used to these touches by now, but she  _ hadn’t  _ yet and it was really annoying her. This was her childhood friend/bully! She really didn’t hold a grudge to him seeing as she got back at him in ways people would have never thought the shy girl would have been able to get back at him, but it was weird to suddenly get married to your childhood friend that forgot you and you forgot him too.

Wait, were they still going to go through with this? Things have changed now, right? There was no way that Gajeel still wanted to be with her. It was funny, they were supposed to be getting married to help each other out. Gajeel would finally get a wife so that he could be the heir to the throne and Juvia was now out of her mother’s clutches. It was merely a marriage of convenience. Wouldn’t things start to get complicated?

She was taken out of her thoughts when she realised that Gajeel was talking and leading her somewhere.

“I don’t really see the point in us having different rooms, so we’ll be sharing mine, it’s big enough.” Juvia remembered his room slightly, and it was very big. She saw the familiar hallway that led down to where her family had spent their time. It wasn’t that they hadn’t had their own house, but Juvia’s father was the Chief advisor, basically second in command to the King, so it was mandatory for him and his family to live there.

“Juvia wants to see her old room.” She slipped out of his hold, feeling quite grateful for that as she headed down the hallway. Gajeel watched as she gracefully moved down the hallway as though she lived there, which she did at one point and will very much be doing so again too.

She passed her parent’s old room and Jellal’s room before she stopped in front of hers. She opened the door to find that most of her childhood toys were still there. The same white bed framed bed was in the corner underneath the window. Her mother had always wanted for her to move her bed because it was never safe, but Juvia had quite a temper if things didn’t go her way back when she was a child.

A picture caught her eye. She didn’t remember that...When she walked up to it, she saw in her handwriting,  _ Metal head marrying watergirl.  _ It truly was a kiddy picture of her getting married to the man that was standing behind her. She blushed at the picture before crumpling it up and she turned to see Gajeel smirking at her.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“I beg to differ that it was nothing.”

“Since when did Gajeel beg?”

“I don’t. Let me see that.” Juvia saw his hand swoop in and her reflexes quickly kicked in. She moved it up above her head and when he stumbled, she quickly stuffed it in her bra with a smirk. 

“Now Gajeel will never be able to get that.” He smirked back, equally as evil and Juvia found that her confidence was being drained away. Gajeel had the ability to do that and it angered her to no end

“You think that will stop me?” She saw his hand edging to her chest area and she squealed before punching him.

“Pervert!”

“Not when I’m your fiance!” She quickly ran around him and down the hallway until she ran into Levy. She used this as the best distraction.

“Levy-chan! Let’s go to your room quickly!” Before Levy could answer, Juvia grabbed her hand to run away from the burly black haired man. Surprisingly enough, Juvia remembered her way to Levy’s room.

Just as they both got in there, Juvia slammed the door in Gajeel’s face and locked the door quickly. “I’ll get you later watergirl!” Juvia rolled her eyes as her heart was racing so fast, and it wasn’t just from the running. As soon as both her and Levy had caught their breaths, she sighed.

“Levy-chan...Juvia is sorry for forgetting you! You were Juvia’s first ever friend and she forgot you!” Levy laughed and shook her head. 

“It’s fine. I mean, I’ve been stuck here the whole time with just Rogue and Gajeel so it’s boring being the only girl. So how have you been? How’s your family been?”

Juvia’s face twisted as it darkened. Levy knew that Juvia wasn’t going to say something nice at all. “Well Jellal-nii has left home now. Juvia thinks he finally got married to Erza-san, but nothing has been confirmed because we haven’t seen or spoken to him in years. Juvia also has a 13 year old sister called Wendy and...Juvia’s mother hates Juvia.” 

Levy’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline at that last sentence. Juvia’s mother had been so sweet and caring! Her mother loved every other child like they were her own!

“No she doesn’t! Your mother loves you! She doted you so much that you could have been called a spoilt brat! I bet it was an argument.” Juvia shook her head and smiled sadly, her eyes beginning to water up. 

“No. Let Juvia explain. Juvia’s father died 7 years ago because of pneumonia. Since then, Juvia’s mother has hated her. She locks Juvia in the cellar, Juvia hasn’t had a warm shower in 7 years and she treats Juvia like a slave.”

Juvia kept on talking about her experience and also her friend’s experience. Levy wiped the tears that spilled from her eyes. “That’s...so shocking! How could she do this to you?!” Juvia shrugged her shoulders. All she knew was that she would never treat her children like that. Her face went aflame as she realised she would have to have children with  _ Gajeel. _

She then glanced over at Levy who was still busy wiping away her tears and she thought that this would be the time to properly apologise. She hadn’t meant to come in between her and Gajeel! By the looks of things, Gajeel was clueless that Levy was even into him.  _ “Stupid metal head.” _

“Anyways, Juvia can tell that Levy-chan has a crush on Gajeel and Juvia is so sorry! Juvia never meant to come in and ruin this!” Levy shook her head and grabbed Juvia’s hands. 

“Juvia! You haven’t ruined anything! Both of you used to love each other a lot back then, even if it was childish crushes! You should have seen how upset Gajeel was when you left, he wouldn’t talk to anyone for ages! Then when his mother asked him why he was sad, he said that you were supposed to be his bride!”

Juvia gasped as she heard that. Her cheeks lit up, even though it was all the way back in their childhood. That was so...cute! Gajeel really thought of her that way, even when they were kids. She couldn’t deny it either, that he was probably her crush interest at the time, but they were young, they most probably didn’t know what love really was. But for it to now become true after not seeing each other for over ten years...Wow...

“I guess it was because of what you said that I fell in love with him.” Juvia tilted her head in slight confusion and it made Levy elaborate. “Your last words to me before you left were, ‘look after metal head for Juvia. Make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble and make sure he doesn’t bully Levy-chan. Stand up for yourself, but be his best friend in Juvia’s place.’ That was what you said to me. Thank you for that confidence boost too, because I was able to stand up for myself above other people too.”

They both hugged each other before a bell sounded. Juvia looked at Levy for confirmation and the shorter woman smiled. “Oh, dinner time!” Juvia nodded and followed her. She was starving, not really being able to remember the last time she ate. It also didn’t help that Gajeel had been too useless to give her anything with sugar in it after she had fainted. Her energy stores were depleted and a good dinner would go down well right now.

“Well, Levy-chan should know that Rogue-san has his eyes on you.” She started giggling when her friend paused in shock. Levy’s face went bright red as her mind started spinning to all the times where she had been alone with Rogue and things started to fall in place with his so called weird behaviour. Still, it’s not like she liked him like that.

“Ju-chan! That’s not funny.” The shorter woman huffed as she walked in step with her friend. They walked down the grand stairs of the palace and it took them a long time before they got to the dining room. Levy sat down with her family and Juvia had to go and sit with her new family.

Gajeel smiled evilly at her and patted the seat next to her. She cursed as she still had the drawing in her bra. She looked around and found a bin. She knew this would be embarrassing, but she didn’t want paper crumpling around in her bra. She turned her back to everyone before quickly getting the paper and stuffing it in the bin. She turned around and made her way to Gajeel who was smirking the whole time. She rolled her eyes and sat down next to him.

The meal came in front of them and Juvia had never seen anything so nice in her life! She made sure she wasn’t drooling over it and she watched as everyone tucked in. Then there was some champagne going around and the King stood up, clanging his glass in process. 

“I would like to perform a toast! To my son, Gajeel for finally finding a woman and settling down! And to Juvia, for being able to handle his antics. Juvia, you are most certainly welcome back into the palace.”

Everyone raised their glasses, smiling at the couple while Juvia was blushing at all the attention and Gajeel couldn’t care less about it all. They all took sips of their drinks before quiet chatter started. Juvia didn’t know why she randomly had this thought, but she did. “Gajeel, what is Juvia going to wear? She has no clothes!”

“Well that’s your problem then isn’t it? I guess you still have some clothes left here form when we were kids...Kidding! You have a wardrobe in my room, geeze!” Juvia gave him a strange look. 

“Why does metal head have a wardrobe full of women’s clothes in his room? How do you know it’s the right size for Juvia?” He sighed and gave her an up and down look which made her squirm before he smirked again.

“Trust me, I know. Besides I bought you that dress didn’t I?” Juvia bit her lip and nodded, trusting his words. She couldn’t believe that she was already going to have to spend her time in the same bed as him! 

“Juvia doesn’t feel comfortable sharing a bed with Gajeel tonight...Juvia will just sleep in her old room.”

It was like Gajeel barely cared about what she did because he kept on shrugging her off as he ate. She huffed and ate her own food, not knowing what was going on in Gajeel’s head. Maybe there was nothing on his mind but food right now. 

What she didn’t realise was that he had wanted her to be with him. When he bumped into her at the market, it was like he had found what he had been missing all these years. His dad was always stressing him that he had to let his childhood crush go and that she would have probably been married by now-something that he had to do himself-but something spoke to him when he bumped into her.

Only to have Levy confirm his thoughts when they got here. He had known that she had reminded him of someone! He was embarrassed by the photo that Levy was talking about. He had drawn a picture of him getting married to Juvia. He knew that boys didn’t do that sort of thing, but he wanted to show it to Juvia at the time. Instead, he had to go and visit his cousin Laxus and Sting in another country and Juvia had left by the time he got back.

He may have acted like he didn’t care that she wasn’t sharing his bed, but he damn well did.

~x~

Juvia was staring at herself in the full length mirror in Gajeel’s bathroom as she bit her lip. She was wearing a nightgown that was mid-thigh length and it was so silky and soft. She could practically hear the jewel signs falling off this piece of clothing that was only made for  _ bed _ . She didn’t feel all that comfortable with Gajeel spending money on her, despite him being a literal Prince. She felt bad.

She knew that Gajeel was just on the other side of the wall, already in his bed. Whether he was asleep was a whole different story. She slipped on some slippers and she knew that she would have to grab some clothes from the wardrobe to take to her room so that this wouldn’t have to be a daily occurrence. They weren’t married yet, there was no need to rush things. Her heart beat fast every time she thought about the fact that she was here for  _ marriage. _

She counted to three in her head before she opened the door and walked out. She looked over to Gajeel and noticed that he was snoring lightly. She laughed. Some things don’t change. Usually, within ten minutes, Gajeel was already asleep and it would take him forever to wake up in the mornings too. She couldn’t help but walk up to see his bed and watch him sleep.

His tanned face was as angelic as it could be while covered with many piercings. His mouth was opened just slightly and Juvia was impressed that there was no drool. His arm was around his pillow and Juvia could immediately tell that he was sleeping topless. She had to take deep breaths in order to calm herself when she thought of how his chest would look. Her finger reached out, and as though she were a ghost, she outlined his biceps so lightly. She smiled when she saw a slight smile appear on his lips. Then she came back down to earth and remembered what the hell she was doing.

She removed her finger from his skin before walking away. She then stopped and looked at him. His hair was now limp and shaggy as it was sprawled all over his pillow. She walked back over to him and laid a peck on his cheek before making her way out with a smile on her lips. “Goodnight, metal head.”

As soon as she left, she never got to hear when Gajeel replied in his sleep. “Night watergirl.”

* * *

Rogue and Levy were talking with one another over breakfast. Levy hadn’t realised how sweet and funny Rogue was. Well she had always known, but she had never really focused on it. However, she wouldn’t use him as a way to get over Gajeel, but she can definitely see that within due time, she might fall head over heels for him.

“I knew that Gajeel was lazy, but Juvia too? Maybe they got off or something...” Rogue shuddered when he realised that that was also his  _ brother  _ that he was talking about. That was the last thing he wanted in his head right now.

Levy shook her head as she set her orange juice down on the table. 

“There won’t be anything like that because Ju-chan went to her old room to go and sleep. I guess she didn’t feel comfortable with sleeping in the same bed as Gajeel.” After a moment of silence, the duo both burst out laughing. As soon as they calmed down, they saw Juvia walk in with all her morning glory, messy hair, glazed eyes and droopy expression.

“I hate mornings.” 

Levy and Rogue looked at one another in surprise before looking at Juvia. “Ju-chan? Are you okay? You just said the word ‘I’.” Juvia huffed and turned around to glare at her friend. 

“I’m just fine!” She sat down and grabbed some breakfast off of the huge tray that was situated in the middle of the table. Rogue sighed. 

“Great, another person who’s grouchy in the mornings.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Gajeel then strolled right in with only a pair of basketball shorts and his hair was everywhere along with Juvia’s. “I fucking hate mornings.” The two who were already perfectly awake wanted to laugh, but they knew that they would get roasted. If only they could tell them it was actually noon right now.

“Juvia, you look like shit.” His fiance glared up at him. 

“Look who’s talking. Gajeel is a mess.” 

They both growled at each other and Levy and Rogue decided to move further down the table. Maybe if they sat close to the door, they could make a quick getaway when the food and cutlery starts flying.

“Gajeel, don’t even talk to me, I don’t want to be more angrier than I already am this morning.” Gajeel rolled his eyes saying something about women PMSing and that made Juvia kick him under the table. He kicked her back and then it was a kicking fight under the table. Gajeel’s last kick was with so much power that Juvia fell back off of her chair.

She landed with a thud on the ground and after some hesitation, Gajeel burst out laughing. Now all four of them were wide awake.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SHE FUCKING DROPPED!” Levy felt sorry for her friend as she rushed to pick her up from the floor. Juvia rubbed her head and her back. She seemed to have snapped out of her morning phase. The fall was so painful and it took everything within her to not burst into tears in front of everyone there. She glanced over at Gajeel who was still laughing a little bit and she lowered her head in humiliation. 

“Juvia thinks she’ll just finish her breakfast in her room now...” She took her plate and a small tray with her and left her head hanging down low. She didn’t even look at Gajeel as she left. He was still laughing a little bit until he realised that Juvia was being serious and he stopped. Just as he was about to call out to her, Levy was screaming at him, her hands on her hips. Even Rogue looked annoyed with him.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU JUST LET HER FALL AND YOU LAUGH, NOT EVEN CHECKING IF SHE’S OKAY!”

Gajeel stared into the angry face of his midget friend. He had _ never  _ seen her get this angry before. But he knew she was right. It was as though when he watched Juvia hit the floor with a thud, his stomach dropped as though he was on the wildest right in an amusement park. He was about to get up and go talk to her when Rogue shook his head.

“I don’t think it would be wise if you go and see her now. Maybe you should wait for her to cool off or something.” 

Levy nodded in agreement and Gajeel sighed before stuffing his face with the remains of his breakfast and left the dining room the way he came. He wasn’t going to listen to what they said to him. He had to at least say sorry before things got out of hand.

He walked up to her room and knocked on her door. “Levy-chan, please just go away.” Gajeel smirked. She said  _ Levy-chan _ , not Gajeel or metal head. It was safe for him to go in. She sighed when she heard the door open and when she saw who it was, she grabbed up the closest thing to her, which was her hairbrush.

“Juvia definitely doesn’t want to see  _ you _ ! GET OUT!” She threw it at him, expertly aiming for his head, but missed due to Gajeel moving in time. He noticed the hot and angry tears that were spilling down her face. He had seen her cry that one time back in Fiore, but he never thought that he would see her cry again, talk less of him being the cause of it. He had to swallow the guilt that had tried to make its way up and out of his mouth.

“Wipe your tears, rain woman!” Juvia did just that, but the anger was still evident in her eyes. “Now, I’m going to come and hug you okay? Don’t hit me or bitch slap me okay?” Juvia nodded her head and when Gajeel’s arms wrapped themselves around her, she leaned into his chest. She sighed deeply, her anger diminishing slowly as she actually enjoyed being in his arms. Gajeel on the other hand was more than happy to stay in this position. It was better when the both of them didn’t speak.

“That fall really hurt.”

Gajeel didn’t say anything, not really actually knowing what to say about that. He knew it hurt. The way her head slammed the floor was shocking to watch and he would have killed himself if something bad happened to her. His hand dug around her hair to find any lumps, but luckily, there were none.

“What is Gajeel doing?”

“Checking your head for bumps.” Juvia blushed, seeing his sweet side once again. She liked this side of him, because it did show that maybe he actually really and truly could come to like her, the same way that she found herself kind of liking him. But he was fun when he showed his bad side. Juvia hated to admit it, but so far, Gajeel was proving to be an enigma that she could actually see herself falling for. Then suddenly, Gajeel got up and left her there and because she was leaning on him, she fell onto her bed where he sat.

She heard Gajeel laugh and she looked up to glare at him. “I’m going to take a shower and you should get ready too, we’re going out for the day.” He left her room and she didn’t know why, but her heart rate had increased considerably and her blood had flowed right to her face. 

Falling for her childhood sweetheart that she couldn’t even remember was something that was never on her agenda. This sort of crazy plotline only happened in books or to other special girls who actually matter to other people, not her. Yet here she was, currently living in a palace with a man that she was about to get married to. A man that was her childhood best friend and sweetheart. It all seemed too surreal.

She didn’t really know the ins and outs of the whole reason why Gajeel was even looking for a wife, she just knew that Gajeel had decided to go about it in an unorthodox way and practically  _ ordered _ for the two of them to get married. No matter, it was a great offer to get away from her shoddy family life. She wondered would fall for her the same way that she found herself falling for him. 

Surprisingly, she really hoped that he did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter was okay! Please remember that I wrote this story sooo long ago now that it seems like it's written a bit childishly. I'm sorry if it's not consistent, I am trying my best to edit it a little bit! But thank you for reading!
> 
> Lolita-chan


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